Obama to skip Israeli parliament during trip

3/14/13 5:27 PM EDT

President Barack Obama will deliver his main speech on his first-ever trip to Israel from a convention center rather than at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in order to underscore his focus on communicating with the Israeli people, the White House said Thursday.

The speech "will allow him to speak to not just the political leadership...but the Israeli public and Israeli young people," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters on a conference call previewing the trip to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. "The speech is a moment where he’ll be in the room with the Israeli public and that really was our priority."

The last two U.S. presidents to visit Israel, Bill Clinton in 1994 and George W. Bush in 2008, both gave major speeches at the Kenesset.

Here's a rundown on Obama's visit (the dates and itinerary of which were first formally confirmed by the White House on Thursday afternoon's call):

Wednesday, March 20: Arrival ceremony in Jerusalem with Israeli President Shimon Peres, visit an Iron Dome battery, bilateral meetings with Peres and Netanyahu.